The House leadership had suspended typical procedures—requiring a simple majority—on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009 in order to prevent GOP-offered amendments that they feared might compromise the votes of endangered Democrats.

Senior Democrats were concerned that Republicans might offer a motion to recommit — sending the bill back to committee with instructions to pay for it with funds from the president's health care reforms.

The Democrats’ procedural tack meant the bill needed two-thirds majority to pass — a large coalition that senior Democrats surely knew was untenable.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who represents many of those who survived 9/11, summed up the situation: "They're afraid of taking a tough vote and as a result of that, they're willing to let cops and firefighters die."

I don't see any mention of illegal immigration measures -- I'm writing to him to clarify that.

Clarification: Richardson tells me the Democratic bill didn't forbid illegal aliens from qualifying for the aid contained in the package, and perhaps some Republicans wanted to block that from happening with an amendment. It was not, however, one of the stated objections the House Republican caucus floated.